


make your day

by thatfangirlingfreak



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Relationship, Fluff, Infertility, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun-centric, Lack of Communication, M/M, Married Couple, Parenthood, Surrogacy, and I live and breathe, birthdays and boys being dumb, here it is, johnny calls jaehyun 'peach' this time, kind of, like barely angst bc if you didn't know I'm soft as hell, my motivation for this was just taeil singing 'your birthday' so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:33:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24448132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatfangirlingfreak/pseuds/thatfangirlingfreak
Summary: A tale of two birthdays, both in February, both very different.
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 19
Kudos: 137





	make your day

**Author's Note:**

> sometimes when I'm writing johnjae I think 'thank god johnny's a hopeless romantic bc me fucking too' hence everything I ever write always ends up being fluffy as hell and this shit is absolutely no exception
> 
> 100% inspired by make your day by nct 127 ofc - the lyrics are incredible!!

**⎮** ~~ **happy** ~~ **birthday, johnny** **⎮**

It’s February 9th.

It’s the date he’s had circled and starred in the calendar since the new year had begun, a day he’d been looking forward to at one point.

Now? He was dreading it.

Because today was Johnny’s birthday, the day of their usual agreed upon joint birthday party (throwing it on Valentine’s Day just led to chaos, and it felt dumb to pick a random day to celebrate in between both of their real birth dates), and after three days of arguing over and over again, Jaehyun’s not sure there’ll be much of a party for their friends to come to. Nor a couple to celebrate it with, if Johnny wakes up in a fighting mood.

Jaehyun twists at the wedding ring on his left hand. Even after owning it for three years, he still liked to admire the way it reflected in the sunlight.

He glances over at his husband’s sleeping form, and admires the way the morning sun comes through their white curtains to land upon Johnny’s face. His dark hair looks like the shade of melting chocolate, and his expression is calm, his features soft as he sleeps.

It’s been a while, Jaehyun thinks, since he’s seen him so at peace. Usually when he talked (bickered, yelled, argued) with Jaehyun these days, his face was contorted with stress and frustration. The realization hurts.

Every year, on Johnny’s birthday, he would get so excited about celebrating him on his day. Despite their parties being shoved together for convenience, Jaehyun would always put more effort into focusing on Johnny and putting the attention on him rather than himself, for it was his day, not Jaehyun’s. He could celebrate his own birthday without all the confetti and balloons and guests — as long as he could quietly eat a nice slice of cake, he was fine to celebrate his significant other rather than himself.

This year, he didn’t know how to feel. He loves Johnny, of course, and wants to show how much he appreciates having him in his life today. Jaehyun knows where he stands; he wants to put the past few days behind them, and celebrate Johnny.

But he doesn’t know where Johnny stands or how he feels at all, and that makes him doubt everything. Would he even want to have a party still? Will he just be faking his enjoyment the whole time?

Jaehyun sighs, turning on his side to face his husband. He reaches up to brush some loose strands of hair off Johnny’s forehead, and whispers,

“I hope you’ll be happy today.”

His husband, unsurprisingly, doesn’t stir in the slightest and continues snoring away. Carefully, Jaehyun slides out of their bed to put on some coffee, using the coffee beans Johnny’s father had shipped to them for his birthday. And when the brew is finished, he pours some out into Johnny’s most beloved mug, and carries the steaming cup to their bedroom.

As he’s ascending the stairs, he briefly wonders whether or not he should make a birthday breakfast. He almost turns around to prep some eggs and bacon, when Johnny emerges from their room, adorning a half-buttoned dress shirt and slacks.

“Oh,” his husband startles when he almost runs into him. “There you are. Is that for me?”

Jaehyun nods and hands the mug to him. “Where are you going?”  


“Meeting,” Johnny replies, then takes a long slurp of coffee. “Thanks for this.”

“Oh,” Jaehyun says, suppressing the urge to roll his eyes. Typical Johnny, working on his birthday. “Well, I’ll see you later then? I need help setting up for the party…”

“Yeah, text me if you need me to pick something up,” he says. “I should be back in an hour or so.”

“Okay,” Jaehyun replies, as Johnny moves to go downstairs. “Hey, wait,” he frowns, putting a hand out to stop his husband.

“Hm?”

“Happy birthday,” Jaehyun smiles, and leans in to kiss him softly. 

It’s brief; Johnny pulls away first. “Thanks, babe. Love you, see you in a bit.”

As soon as he leaves, Jaehyun goes to grab his phone. He needed to unload his thoughts onto someone, and he didn’t know if he could decorate alone with Johnny without another argument blowing up between them.

“Hey Jae, what’s up? Tell Johnny I said happy birthday!” Taeyong says when he answers the phone.

“Ah, he’s not here right now,” Jaehyun grimaces.

“What? Why?”

“Can you…do you think you can come over?” he asks. “Sorry, I just need—”

“Say no more,” Taeyong interrupts. “I’m on my way now.”

True to his word, Taeyong shows up just fifteen minutes later. He’s been a long-time friend of the couple, and Jaehyun’s always appreciated his advice and support. Both things that he could really use at a time like this.

“So,” Taeyong starts, sitting on their couch in the living room, nursing a cup of the leftover coffee Jaehyun had made, “what’s up with you guys?”

“That easy to tell, huh?” he laughs, but it’s humorless. “I don’t know what happened. We’ve been fighting for three days straight.”

“Whoa, whoa,” his friend’s face contorts with concern. “About what? Just small stuff, or…?”

“Mostly,” Jaehyun sighs. “Once, we had it out when I brought up that I felt like he hasn’t been present in our relationship lately, because he hasn’t. We haven’t been on a date in, god, maybe a month? And you know that’s not like us.”  


Taeyong hums in thought. “Did anything major happen before all this? Like, a really big argument between you guys? A massive life change?”

“No, everything seemed fine.” This is what confused him the most—the way they’d gone from a good place to this in the blink of an eye.

“That’s…that’s very unlike Johnny. Have you tried to talk to him about it at all?”

“Hard to have a heart-to-heart when he’s pissed at me for forgetting to drop off a package at the post office. I feel like I’m walking on fucking eggshells around him, hyung,” he confesses. “Everything I do is somehow wrong.”

“Christ,” he murmurs. “Do you want me to text Doie and see if Johnny’s said anything to him?”

Jaehyun shakes his head. “No, I…I know it sounds stupid, but if I found out something bad, I’d rather it be straight from Johnny himself.”

Taeyong narrows his eyes at him. “What do you mean by ‘bad’?”

“Like,” Jaehyun fidgets, twisting at his wedding ring. His voice is barely above a whisper when he asks, “What if I find out he’s cheating on me? Or he wants to divorce me?”

“Oh, Jae,” his hyung frowns, reaching forward to clutch his hand. “Don’t say that. You know Johnny loves you, he wouldn’t. You have to trust him.”

He can feels his throat constricting, eyes brimming with tears. “I know, but I can’t help but think it sometimes. He’s gone so much, and he doesn’t act like himself around me anymore. It’s the only thing I can think of, but I can’t find the courage to ask him. I’m too scared, Yongie.”

Taeyong doesn’t reply, just pulls him into his chest and lets him cry. He feels small, vulnerable, and his heart aches. He knows he should be upfront with Johnny and talk about his feelings, his whole life he’s preached about proper communication and honesty in relationships to his friends.

But somehow, when it came to his own marriage’s rough patch, he couldn’t seem to follow his own advice. 

“I’d be scared too if I was you,” Taeyong says, rubbing gently at Jaehyun’s back, “but you can’t live like this forever. You have to speak to him, Jaehyun. It’s the only way you can get answers.”

“But I don’t know what I’d do without him,” he whispers. “What if I end up finding out he doesn’t want to be with me anymore? Where does that leave me?”

“Don’t jump to conclusions like that already,” his friend warns. “That just hurts you more.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Jaehyun sniffs, wiping at his face with the back of his palm. “I just…I love him so much, Taeyong. I can’t lose him.”

“You won’t, if you just open up to him. I know you can do it.” Taeyong wraps his arms around Jaehyun and hugs him tightly, providing a reassuring warmth.

“Thanks, Yongie,” Jaehyun smiles.

“No problem,” he pats his shoulder. “C’mon, let’s start decorating, yeah?”

—

Taeyong proves to be a great distraction, as Jaehyun doesn’t notice when Johnny texts him, nor when his husband finally returns home.

He’s too busy laughing at his hyung’s helium-affected voice to hear the front door open.

“Jaehyun, where the hell are you?” Johnny calls out, the edge in his voice making the man in question immediately bristle in fear.

“Back here,” he replies. “Taeyong’s here, too!”

Johnny rounds the corner and appears in the doorway of the kitchen, staring at the sea of balloons and the two men in the middle of it all. He seems irritated when he looks at Jaehyun and asks, “Can you come help me outside for a second?”

He glances at Taeyong, who gives him a small, encouraging nod. “Um, yeah. Hang on.”

Jaehyun sets down his balloon, and goes to slip on some shoes before meeting Johnny at his car, the trunk popped open and grocery bags sitting inside.

As soon as he approaches, Johnny says, “You didn’t reply to my messages, so I just bought whatever.”

“Oh shit, sorry,” Jaehyun curses himself, reaching to take two of the bags. “I guess Taeyong and I got carried away. We finished up the living room, though! It looks pretty nice—”

“Jae. I called you three times,” Johnny cuts him off. “You’re telling me you couldn’t answer once because of some goddamn balloons and streamers?”

Jaehyun narrows his eyes. “I’m sorry, I was trying to decorate for your birthday party.”

“Well, I was trying to see if you needed anything. Don’t expect me to make an emergency run if we’re missing something for tonight.”  
  
“Don’t worry, I don’t expect much from you nowadays,” Jaehyun grumbles, picking up more bags to take inside, as if adding more things to carry will solve something.

He can feel Johnny’s glare on him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing,” he huffs, turning to start back towards the house. “We have a guest over, so let’s just talk about this later, okay?” He walks away before he can hear Johnny give an affirmative.

When he remerges into the kitchen, Taeyong’s looking at him with wide, concerned eyes. “Jae, you alright?”

“Fine,” Jaehyun grits out as he sets the bags on the counter more aggressively than he should. “Let’s just finish up the balloons.”

While he and Taeyong place bundles of the balloons around the house, Johnny unloads the rest of the groceries alone. Jaehyun feels that it’s only right for him to do it by himself, considering his shitty behavior.

The rest of the decorating goes smoothly, since he and Taeyong take care of it all, avoiding Johnny. But eventually, he does have to speak to him.

“Hey,” Jaehyun pokes his head into the kitchen. Johnny’s arranging different types of alcohol on a free space of their counter in preparation for tonight. “Did you go downtown to pick up the cake?”

Johnny pauses, and takes a deep breath. “No, I didn’t. Maybe if you’d answered my calls, you could have told me to get it, and I would have.”

“Why are you still so upset about me not answering? I was busy, alright,” Jaehyun closes his eyes, trying to calm down so Taeyong doesn’t have to witness this.

“Yeah, busy fucking around with Taeyong,” Johnny rolls his eyes.

Jaehyun also rolls his eyes. “God forbid we have fun while we’re decorating for your stupid party.”

“It’s your party, too!”

“Is it?” he asks. “Last time I checked, I was the one doing all the planning for it. I invited all our friends. I did all the decorating, and what did you do? Absolutely nothing! I did this, all of this, for you and your ungrateful ass!”

“You’re being so unfair right now.”

“Yeah, it’s always my fault,” Jaehyun retorts, feeling the fight leave his body. “Whatever, I’m gonna get Taeyong to see if Doyoung can get the cake.”

“Happy fucking birthday to me,” Johnny says under his breath, but Jaehyun still hears it when he’s turning to leave.

“Fuck you, Johnny.”

He asks Taeyong to ask Doyoung about the cake, then promptly bursts into tears. His rage suddenly gave way to despair, and he couldn’t believe the things he and Johnny had just said to each other.

“Alright, Jae, shh,” Taeyong tries to soothe him to no avail. “Why don’t you go take a nap, okay? I’ll handle the cake and the other stuff on your to-do list. You just rest before the party.”

Jaehyun’s crying so hard he can’t even speak, and just nods before slowly, numbly making his way up the stairs to their bedroom. He lays on Johnny’s side of the bed and cradles his pillow against his chest, letting out little sobs every once in a while. Never in his life has he felt so pitiful and pathetic.

Before he drifts off to a dreamless sleep, he can just make out the sound of Taeyong and Johnny having a yelling match in the kitchen. He thinks about going to stop their fighting, but exhaustion washes over him.

He falls asleep, but doesn’t get much rest out of it.

—

“Jae? Jaehyun. Wake up.”

He blinks his eyes open, reaching one hand up to rub the crust out of one eye. “What time is it?”

“Just a half hour before the party starts,” Johnny replies. “I figured you’d want enough time to get ready.”

“Thanks.”

They get ready in silence, the sound of the sink’s running water and hair products being opened the only noise filling their bedroom. That is, until Jaehyun starts fumbling with the buttons on his shirt and grunts out of frustration.

“Here, let me help you,” Johnny speaks up, going over to help his struggling husband. He buttons up his shirt for him with ease.

“Thank you,” Jaehyun says, then looks up at Johnny’s face. “Hey, um…”

There are so many things he wants to say, but doesn’t know where to begin. He wants to apologize and demand for answers all at once, wants to tell Johnny he loves him and is pissed at him all at once. Everything between them is fragile, and he longs for the solid love he once knew to return.

“You don’t have to say anything,” Johnny murmurs, “I know. We can talk later, yeah? Let’s just go enjoy our party for a bit.”

Jaehyun nods. “Okay.”

Johnny looks down at him, considering something for a moment, then appears to make a decision. He leans in and presses a kiss to Jaehyun’s lips, gentle and, like this morning, short.

Yet, it leaves Jaehyun with a warm bloom of hope in his chest, and that’s enough for now.

—

It’s not a massive party or anything, just some close friends in their living room talking about their lives and sharing stories, catching up on anything and everything.

Jaehyun’s surprised at how well everything is going. He’s just been smiling pleasantly as he sips on a glass of wine, listening to Sicheng and Ten talk over one another, Kun and Doyoung debate about something he vaguely remembers seeing in the news, and watching Mark and Johnny laugh at one of their dumb inside jokes.

Occasionally, Taeyong will shoot him worried glances, like he’s scared he might break at any moment. But he supposes at some point in the evening, his hyung realizes that he’s doing just fine.

And he really is fine. That is, until Mark goes—

“Hey, wait that reminds me! Do you remember that one time, on Jaehyun’s birthday?” he asks, little eyes glimmering with glee.

“Oh god, don’t bring that up,” Sicheng groans from across the room. “You didn’t have to deal with it.”

“Deal with what?” Kun asks. He’s a rather recent addition to their friend group, considering he and Ten only began dating about eight months ago. He was a nice, friendly guy, and all of them liked him, especially because they had someone new to tell all their old stories to.

Jaehyun sinks a bit lower into the couch as Sicheng shoots him a pointed look. “That,” he explains, gesturing towards Jaehyun.

“We should probably explain,” Mark pipes up, garnering the full attention of the room. “So, like Johnny and Jaehyun had just started dating—”

“No,” Johnny interrupts, shaking his head. “We weren’t dating at the time. We were still just friends at this point.”

Mark raises his hands up, mock surrendering. “Alright, my bad. Anyways, it was Jaehyun’s birthday and we were all like ‘yo, it would be so funny to prank him.’ And somehow we decided that Johnny and Doyoung should like, fight each other in front of him.”

“What kind of prank is that?” Kun asks, wrinkling his nose in distaste.

“We were dumb college kids at the time, hyung!” Sicheng defends, arms crossed. “So Doyoung and Johnny fake fight, shouting at the top of their lungs about some dumb shit we came up with.”

“And then we tried to physically fight, which ended up with Johnny actually punching me in the face by accident,” Doyoung recalls. “I had a bruise on my face for over a week.”

“Jaehyun was so upset that we were fighting that he cried,” Johnny says, smiling at the memory. “He tried to break us up by inserting himself between us, which didn’t work because he was small and scrawny, but it was an adorable effort.”

“When Johnny told him it was all a prank, he only cried harder,” Sicheng rolls his eyes. “And guess who had to deal with it? Me, the roommate.”

“Wow,” Kun remarks, then looks over at Jaehyun. “They really made you cry on your birthday? I mean,” he then looks at the rest of the men in the room, “don’t you think that was pretty cruel?”

“C’mon, Kun,” Johnny laughs. “That’s what you call a memory!”

And something about this just ignites something in Jaehyun’s chest. The way Kun, the newcomer, is sweet and caring towards him, whereas Johnny, his eternal lover, takes joy in Jaehyun’s hurt.

Maybe it’s irrational and stupid to take it that way—the prank happened so long ago, when they were young and idiotic—but he can’t help it.

Suddenly, his wine tastes bitter in his mouth. He needs to get rid of it.

“Let’s just cut the cake,” he mutters, standing to go bring it out from the kitchen. He blatantly ignores the concerned looks that follow him out of the room, for he only cares about one man’s concern.

But that man never seemed to care enough to be worried about him, lately.

Jaehyun gets frustrated with his own thoughts of self-pity, and pushes them aside as he digs for the cake cutter in their utensils drawer. He briefly thinks about smashing the cake into pieces, but doesn’t.

In spite of everything, he still wanted to see Johnny’s wide grin and brown eyes glow from the candle light of his birthday cake. He still wanted Johnny to be happy on his day, to feel special.

He walks out with the cake in hand, as well as a lighter and the cake cutter, but Johnny is nowhere to be found. His heart drops in his chest.

“Where’d he go?” Jaehyun asks, fearing for the worst.

Doyoung rises from his spot on the couch, and takes the items from his hands. “We thought the cake could wait, John wants to do presents first.”

“Oh,” he blinks in surprise, then notices the table of gifts from their friends is untouched. “Thanks for not starting without me, I guess.”

Taeyong gives him a soft smile. “Not those presents. Johnny’s waiting outside for you, Jae. He wants to give his gift to you, first.”

Mark then comes bounding down the steps with a wrapped package in hand, and Jaehyun immediately recognizes it as the birthday gift he’d gotten Johnny. “I found it, hyung!”

“Thanks, Mark. Now take your gift,” Taeyong directs Jaehyun, “and find your husband.”

“But,” he says as he takes the gift from Mark, “why…?”

Sicheng groans for the millionth time that night. “Because he wants to get you alone, dumbass!”

“And probably make out with you!” Ten adds, and both of the men snicker in delight.

“Just ignore them, please,” Kun smiles politely, “and enjoy your moment with Johnny.”

“But hurry,” Mark whines from behind him, “because this cake looks really good!”

Jaehyun heeds their words, and opens the sliding door that leads to their backyard. He walks along the stoned pathway that leads to the deck that he and Johnny built together during their first summer of owning this house. It’s a memory that makes him smile, although the task was frustrating at the time.

He finds Johnny sitting on the edge of the wooden platform, long legs dangling off it, swinging his feet back and forth as if he were two feet tall and tiny instead of six feet tall and gigantic.

Jaehyun feels like his heart is going to jump out of his throat from nerves, but he approaches anyway.

“Hey, stranger,” he calls out.

Johnny looks up at him as he walks towards him, and Jaehyun feels like he’s nineteen again, with the way his stomach is in knots over that same fond, warm, honey-brown gaze.

“But we’ve met before,” Johnny replies, head tilted in confusion. “You’re the man from my dreams.”

Jaehyun’s heart pounds a little harder at this, but he would die before admitting that. Especially since it was because of a Johnny Seo pick up line.

“Ha ha,” he says flatly. “Was that supposed to be a Sleeping Beauty reference?”

“Maybe,” his husband shrugs. “I couldn’t remember the song.”

“I knew it,” Jaehyun snorts, taking a seat next to him on the deck. “You’re an idiot.”

Johnny looks up at the night sky and sighs, breath visible in the February chill. “Yeah, I’ve been a real idiot today, huh? Actually, more than an idiot. For the past few days.”  


“Yeah, you have been,” he mumbles, twisting his wedding ring around and around. “You really hurt me, John.”

The older man falls silent for a long moment, and Jaehyun doesn’t know what to think, starts filling in the blanks with irrational fears. It’s what drives him to whisper, in a strained voice,

“If you’re gonna ask for a divorce, just get it over with.”

“Hey,” Johnny immediately takes one of his hands in his, using the other to tilt Jaehyun’s chin up to look him in the eyes. “That’s not what’s happening. I promised to love you forever, yeah?” Here, Johnny makes it a point to clink their wedding rings together. “I love you, I’m sorry if I made you think otherwise.”

Jaehyun closes his eyes, relieved and spiraling all at once. “You just…you stopped being yourself around me, Johnny. I didn’t know what else to think, so I thought the worst.”

Johnny grimaces, as if the words stung. “God, I’m sorry, Jaehyun. I’m so sorry. I just got so caught up in myself that I didn’t realize it was affecting you.”

“What do you mean?”

“This is a really shit excuse for the way I’ve been acting,” his husband sighs, worriedly running a hand through his hair. “Okay. Do you remember when we had that, um, conversation a few weeks ago?”

Jaehyun gives him an exasperated look. “You’re gonna have to be a lot more specific, Seo.”

Johnny huffs. “The baby conversation.”

The conversation in question had taken place after a particularly great round of lovemaking, during that post-haze glow in which Jaehyun and Johnny were fond of tracing random patterns on each other’s skin and murmuring sweet nothings to one another in the dark.

It was during this time that Jaehyun decided to bring up something that had been on his mind since he encountered one of his old high school friends at the store, swaddling a tiny human in her arms.

“Can I ask you something kind of random?”

“Always,” Johnny had answered straightaway, accustomed to Jaehyun’s oddities.

“Do you ever think about having kids with me?” Jaehyun had asked, reaching up to gently sweep back Johnny’s sweaty hair for him.

His husband had smiled warmly. “Of course I do. I’d love to have mini-Johnnys and Jaehyuns with you.”

They proceeded to discuss surrogate versus adoption options and the things they’d dreamed up for their future children late into the night. They never really discussed it again afterwards, despite making a pact to start planning to have a child soon.

“Yeah,” Jaehyun replies. “I remember. What about it?"  


“I was talking to my mom a day or so after that night, and I told her we were thinking about surrogacy as an option to have her future grandkids,” Johnny explains. “And she, um…she told me that infertility runs in my family, so I’d have to make sure I was healthy before we started trying. So,” he takes a shaky breath, “I went to see a doctor about it.”  


Oh. Fuck. “What’d they say?” Jaehyun asks, dread in his chest.

“They said it’s not impossible,” Johnny’s voice is small and faraway, so different from his usual bold, in-your-face tone. “But they also said chances could be low for me. Or it may take longer than usual. Low sperm count, and all, y’know?”

“Oh, Johnny…”

His husband shakes his head. “I know I should’ve told you, but I was embarrassed and ashamed. I threw myself into work and earning money for our savings instead, because I felt like…it was the only way I could provide for our future, contribute to our kid in some way. Since I can’t…”

Jaehyun frowns. “But like you said, it’s not impossible. Plus, we can still use mine for the surrogacy route.”

“Yeah, I tried to remind myself of those things,” Johnny chuckles humorlessly. “I guess I just didn’t realize how much I wanted a kid made from…me? I don’t know. I guess I didn’t know how badly I wanted that until I was told it might not be a guaranteed option.”

“I understand that,” Jaehyun sympathizes. “Listen, if you want to try, we have plenty of time to try. If it doesn’t work, we have other options.”

Johnny frowns. “I thought you wanted to have a kid soon, though?”

“I didn’t mean, like, tomorrow,” Jaehyun says, rolling his eyes. “Really, you should have just told me all of this instead of blowing up at me.”

“I know, but I couldn’t look at you without feeling, like, guilty? And weirdly jealous?” Johnny then clarifies, “I just felt like I’d never be able to give you what you wanted. And unlike me, your dick’s not genetically fucked up, so I just…didn’t know how to deal with it, at all.”

Jaehyun squeezes his hand in lieu of responding. “When did you find out?”  


“Three days ago my results came back.”

“Ah, so when you started really fighting with me?”

Johnny lets out a frustrated noise, pressing his face into his empty palm. “Fuck, I’m so fucking sorry, Jaehyun. I shouldn’t have taken this out on you. You didn’t deserve any of it, and I’m just…I’m so sorry.”

“I’m not saying you’re forgiven just yet,” Jaehyun starts, “but I get where you’re coming from, at least. I hope you realize now that you should always tell me major things like this. I mean, I’m your _husband_ , John. I’m supposed to be here for you no matter what. I would’ve helped you figure all this out to the best of my ability.”  
  
“You’re right, I just let my pride get the best of me,” Johnny sighs. “I’m sorry. I don’t even know how I can ever make it up to you, honestly.”

“We can just take it one day at a time,” Jaehyun reassures him. “If anyone can work it out, it’s us.”

“You’re right.”

“Maybe we can even start right now,” he looks at his husband, a teasing glint in his gaze, “by you giving me the gift I came out here for.”

This prompts a genuine, bright laugh out of Johnny’s mouth. It’s been a minute since he’s heard the delightful sound. “Oh, I see. You only wanted this.” He reaches somewhere behind him on the deck to pull out a small rectangular box. “It’s not much.”

Jaehyun gives him a skeptical look. Knowing Johnny, it was bound to be either a romantic gift or a very meaningful gift. There was absolutely no in between.

“You know, why am I giving this to you now? I should be saving this for your real birthday,” Johnny contemplates as Jaehyun begins to tear into the wrapping paper. “This ruins the sacredness of birthdays and gifts.”  
  
“Shut up,” Jaehyun retorts. “I deserve this for dealing with your bullshit, remember?”

Johnny simply hums in response, gesturing for him to open the gift already. He rips the rest of the gift wrap off, only to find a velvet box in his hands.

His eyes widen, and he looks up at his husband. “Johnny…”

“Open it, peach.”

Jaehyun holds his breath as he slowly opens it, eyes widening when he sees the silver necklace inside.

“It’s a puzzle piece,” Johnny explains, as Jaehyun gazes at the small charm attached to the sterling chain, “because you’re my missing piece. You’ll always complete me, Jaehyunnie.”

The initials ‘J.S.’ are engraved in the corner of it, and Jaehyun smiles at the sight. “It’s beautiful, Johnny. I love it.”

“That’s not all,” he says. “It’s a locket, too.” Johnny reaches over to open the side of the charm, and it falls open to two hollowed out sides.

“I’m gonna put my favorite picture of you on this side,” Jaehyun grins up at him, then plants a kiss on Johnny’s lips. “Thank you. I can’t wait to wear it."  


“I’m glad you like it,” Johnny smiles. “My turn, now?”

“Impatient ass,” Jaehyun scoffs, reaching behind himself to hand Johnny his gift. “It’s also not much…”

Johnny pointedly ignores his words, and tears into the gift straightaway. His eyes light up when he sees the leather-bound photo album, tracing over the words Jaehyun had imprinted into the cover.

“‘The Seos,’” Johnny reads aloud, then looks up at Jaehyun with a fond smile. “Has a nice ring to it. I love it.”

“Yeah? Open it.”

Johnny flips open the cover to see a faded image from their wedding, a photo of Johnny and Jaehyun grinning like idiots at each other during their first dance as husbands, printed onto the panel on the back of the cover, with gold lettering in the very center.

“More reading?” his husband quirks an eyebrow at him, which makes Jaehyun slap at his shoulder. “I’m just kidding! Alright, let me put my fifth grade reading level to use. ‘To Johnny, who sees the world in a way no one else ever will. This is for you, to display your unique perspective. Thank you for always showing me the wonderful, little things in life. I love you endlessly. Love, Jaehyun.’”

“You can fill it with whatever you’d like, not just pictures of us,” Jaehyun adds.

Johnny stares at him like he’s out of his mind. “I hope you know this is going to be 95% photos of you. You’re my muse, remember? My little model,” the older man coos, tickling at Jaehyun’s side to make him giggle.

“Stop that,” he swats his hands away, laughing. “Seriously though, you like it?”

“I love it, it’s perfect,” Johnny presses his lips to Jaehyun’s cheek. “Thank you for this. For everything. You’re the best husband.”

“I better be, for putting up with you,” Jaehyun jokes, leaning his head on Johnny’s shoulder. “Happy birthday, I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Jaehyun glances upwards, analyzing Johnny’s expressions from the side. “We’re going to get through this together. You and me.”

“Always,” Johnny kisses the tip of his nose, then his lips.

“You have to come to me, okay?” he whispers in the small space between them. “Promise you’ll come to me from now on. Please don’t bottle it up and deal with this alone, John.”

“I won’t, peach,” Johnny swears. “I promise.”

“Good.”

Suddenly, they hear the sliding door open, and Mark’s head pops out from the corner.

“Guys? We’re about to cut the cake with or without you!”

Jaehyun watches Johnny blow out his candles, eyes warm like honey beneath the faint glow. Before he can even begin to wonder what his husband wished for, Johnny’s at his side, whispering,

“I wished for us to have a healthy, happy baby one day. Don’t tell anyone though, it might not come true.”

Jaehyun rolls his eyes, but his dimpled smile gives away his fondness for the older man. “But you told me?”

“You’re included in the wish, so you get a free pass, duh,” Johnny explains.

Taeyong relights the candles, and their group of friends begin singing happy birthday for Jaehyun. When he closes his eyes to make his wish, only one thought comes to mind:

_I wish for Johnny to be happier on his next birthday, and every other day in between, after, and before it, because he brings so much joy to my life. All I wish is to be with him everyday, and for him to be happy._

His breath catches all the flames in one go, and everyone applauds. Johnny tries to convince him to reveal his wish to him, trying everything from poking his fingers into Jaehyun’s sides to slipping a hand into his back pocket to feel up his ass, but Jaehyun refuses.

It’s dumb, but he really doesn’t want to jinx his wish. He needs it to come true.

And as he watches Johnny laugh, head thrown back and eyes crinkled, icing on the corner of his mouth, Jaehyun knows he’s wished for the right thing.

—

**⎮** **happy birthday, jaehyun** **⎮**

Something hits him directly in the chest before he can even open his eyes.

“Jae, baby,” he hears Johnny whisper. “Get up.”

“But Dad…” comes a high-pitched whine.

“Appa’s trying to sleep in. C’mon, I’ll carry you back to your room and you can come back later.”

He can sense Jaemin pouting without even having to look. So, Jaehyun lets his eyes flutter open, squinting a bit due to the sunlight streaming through the window.

Jaemin gasps from where he’s perched on Jaehyun’s chest, peering down at him with excited, wide eyes. “Appa! Happy birthday!”

Jaehyun can’t help but smile at their son, reaching up to tousle his soft hair affectionately. “Thank you, Minnie. Is your brother awake?” Jaemin shakes his head. “Why don’t you go try to get him up, hm? And then we can start breakfast.”

“Okay!” their eldest son replies, scrambling to get off of Jaehyun and speed back to his shared bedroom with Chenle.

As soon as their child is gone, Jaehyun turns on his side to face Johnny.

“Pleasant way to start the morning,” he jokes.

“I’m sorry, I tried to stop him,” his husband sighs, then looks into Jaehyun’s eyes as if he were studying him, trying to absorb the sight. He smiles, that easy, relaxed smile that Jaehyun adores. “Happy birthday, peach.”

He leans in to kiss him, and Jaehyun simply parts his lips to let him. They lazily exchange soft morning kisses in peace, legs entangled beneath the sheets bunched at their hips, Johnny’s arms cradling Jaehyun closer.

It’s a picturesque, perfect morning for the couple, until Jaemin comes racing back in with Chenle right behind him, and they’re forced to separate.

The five-year-old and four-year-old hop onto their bed with practiced ease, from years of attempting to wake their parents up at dawn for Christmas mornings, belly pains, and nightmares.

Chenle clambers onto Jaehyun’s chest as Jaemin crawls on top of the lump of comforter that covers Johnny’s long legs. His husband reaches forward to pick up their eldest son, and plants little kisses on his face to make him let out squeaky giggles.

Just when Jaehyun thinks his heart might melt at the sight, Chenle gently taps at his chest.

“Happy birthday, Appa,” their youngest beams up at him with the cutest smile. “I made you a heart card, because it’s Valentine’s Day, too! But Minnie made me put it in the kitchen.”

“I’ll go look at it before we make breakfast,” Jaehyun reassures him, and kisses his forehead gently. “Thank you, Lele. I can’t wait to see what you wrote for me this year. I bet it’s beautiful.”

The praise makes Chenle’s little eyes brighten, and Jaehyun’s heart positively clenches. He was definitely an Appa’s boy, whereas Jaemin was definitely Johnny’s boy. It was a little bit ironic, considering Jaemin was his doing and Chenle was Johnny’s (after several tries), but he supposes it’s fitting, in a way.

“What should we make Appa for his birthday breakfast, boys?” Johnny asks. “Bacon? Bagels? French toast?”

Jaemin tilts his little head to the side, and says, “You’re so American.”

This causes Jaehyun to laugh so hard, his chest shakes, and the movement makes Chenle whine. But he can’t help it, Jaemin said the funniest, most out-of-the-blue shit sometimes, in the most innocent voice ever. It never failed to amuse him.

“He is, isn’t he?” Jaehyun asks teasingly, turning to look at Johnny with a wide grin. “You hear that, John?”

“Very funny,” Johnny grumbles, then sniffs dramatically. “You’re so mean to me. Guess I’m not asking you to be my valentine this year anymore.”

“No,” he whines, pressing his chin into his husband’s shoulder and pouting up at him. “You can’t not be my valentine on my birthday!”

Jaemin pipes up with a stern, “Yeah!” that makes Jaehyun giggle.

“See? Minnie’s on my side.”

Suddenly, Chenle tugs at his necklace, and Jaehyun yelps as he feels the chain dig into his skin.

“And this!” their youngest exclaims randomly, continuing to tug on it.

“Chenle, baby,” he says, struggling to pry the child’s hands away from his jewelry. “Please don’t do that. You’re gonna break it, and I really like this necklace.”

“But Appa,” he whines, sounding a bit like Jaehyun himself, “I wanna see it!”

Jaehyun quickly realizes what he means, and goes to open the locket.

The puzzle piece opens up into two halves. On the left side, there’s a picture of Johnny grinning widely, from the night he proposed to Jaehyun. It’s been his favorite picture of him since then, only rivaled by the photo on the right side of the locket. There, is an image of Johnny holding a newborn baby Chenle and one-year-old Jaemin, looking so proud and so incredibly happy.

Jaehyun favored these photos because they represented major milestones for the couple, times when they felt on top of the world with joy. They were moments he wanted to hold onto forever, so it was only appropriate to lock them away inside the small puzzle piece locket.

“You see, Dada?” Chenle points to the open necklace. “You have to be Appa’s valentine!”

Johnny quirks an eyebrow at the little four-year-old. “What do you mean, Lele?”

Chenle grasps the charm again, making Jaehyun wince a little. “Appa has you here, next to his heart everyday. So you _have_ to be his valentine! He loves you!”

Jaehyun and Johnny laugh at the adorable sentiment, as their sons look on in confusion.

“Alright, when you put it that way…I guess I’ll ask Appa,” he reaches out to take one of Jaehyun’s hands. “Jaehyunnie, will you be my valentine?”

“Hm, I’ll have to think about it…” Jaehyun’s answer makes Jaemin shout in protest and Chenle frown deeply. “Alright, alright,” he relents. “Of course, I’ll be your valentine, Johnny.”

“Yay!” Jaemin cheers, while Chenle claps. Their excitement quickly transitions into disgust, as both boys shout, “Ew! Gross!” when Johnny puts a hand under Jaehyun’s chin to tilt his head up for a kiss.

It ends all too soon, as Johnny pulls away with a sigh. “Can’t even kiss my own husband in peace anymore,” he mumbles, then turns to look at Chenle and Jaemin. “Let’s go to the kitchen, boys!”

“Okay, Dad! C’mon, Lele,” Jaemin says, taking his younger brother by the hand as they slide off the end of the bed and leave the room, little footsteps echoing down the hallway.

As soon as they’re gone, Johnny’s eyes are on him again, mouth forming a cute, disappointed little pout. “I really wanted this morning to start out better than that.”

Jaehyun shakes his head, smiling. “Nothing could be better than having all my boys around me on my birthday.”

“Cute,” Johnny coos, poking at his dimple. “Do you wanna see your present now?”

He nods eagerly, and Johnny gets up and goes over to their closet, rustling around for several minutes before he emerges victoriously with a wrapped gift in hand and an envelope on top of it.

“Here’s the card,” his husband says, handing it over. “It’s probably not as great as Chenle’s, but I tried. And here’s the gift.”

Jaehyun snorts, beginning to tear into the envelope. “Unless you have a stick figure drawing of me inside this, there’s no way you’re outdoing him.”

Johnny laughs, but it’s cut short by a shout from the kitchen.

“Dad! I can’t reach the cereal!” Jaemin’s voice resounds throughout the house.

“I’ll be right there, Jae!” he calls over his shoulder, then gives Jaehyun an apologetic look. “Go ahead and open it, I’ll be back.” 

Johnny plants a kiss to his head, and hurries downstairs to put his height to use.

Meanwhile, Jaehyun admires the personalized birthday card Johnny got for him, which reads ‘Happy birthday, peach’ in a cursive font, complete with a drawing of a tiny peach on the front. He opens it up to find Johnny’s handwriting filling the entire right side of the card.

‘ _Dear Mr. Seo, aka Jaehyun,_

_It’s officially your day today! Although, if you asked me, every day should belong to you. Celebrating you for only one day just isn’t enough. You deserve to be thanked and loved and appreciated year-round, today and all the days in between._

_I don’t know what to say except I’m so lucky to have you in my life, to be able to love you and wake up beside you and be with you. In a way, your birthday is like a reminder of the miracles in my life. I have the best husband in the world, who never gives up on me and helps me become a better person. We have the best sons in the world, our own tiny blessings. I feel like I have the best life in the world, too, and it’s all thanks to you. Without you being born on this day, I don’t know where I would be._

_There are so many things I want to say, need to say, but I hope your gift can explain it all without me having to (terribly) articulate it. I hope it makes your day, and I hope you’ll be happy today, because you make me happy today, yesterday, tomorrow, every single day. I love you, I love you, I love you. Happy birthday, my dear._

_Yours,_

_Johnny_

_P.S. - I love you. Just in case you didn’t catch that._ ’

Jaehyun’s heart swells with fondness, love, adoration for his husband. Somehow, he always knew just what to say, even if he pretended he was no good with words. He props the card up on the bedside table carefully, then begins unwrapping his present.

The blue wrapping paper falls away to reveal a familiar leather book. Or rather, a photo album.

Jaehyun furrows his eyebrows in confusion. He was certain Johnny hadn’t used this old photo album in years. He’d filled a few pages with some random photos of landscapes or Jaehyun, then let it dust on a shelf when they found out they’d be having Jaemin.

So, he’s surprised to see it on his lap, all these years later. Jaehyun opens it carefully, and immediately finds himself wanting to cry and grin like an idiot all at once.

The first few pages are of him and Johnny in their college days, some of just them, some with their friends. Johnny’s placed a little cardstock label above the pages, where he’s written ‘ _Appa and I in college_.’

The next section is titled, ‘ _Our dating days_.’ Several pages of Jaehyun and Johnny and memorable dates later, there’s ‘ _He said yes!!!_ ’ which contains their engagement photos. Ones from their wedding are labeled ‘ _Marrying the first love of my life_.’

After some beautiful honeymoon photos Johnny had taken of him, Jaehyun flips the page to find photos of baby Jaemin. His eyes are immediately drawn to the photo of Johnny holding Jaemin for the first time, his honey-brown eyes glistening with tears and his smile radiant.

‘ _Meeting the second love of my life_ ,’ is what Johnny’s written for this one, and Jaehyun can’t help but tear up.

There’s a collection of photographs of Jaemin as a toddler, growing up right before his eyes as he turns the pages. Then, Chenle’s baby photos are there, under ‘ _The third love of my life enters the world_.’ This is followed by a series of Chenle photos, of course.

Then, there are more recent photos. Jaehyun holding both of the boys on his lap, Johnny reading storybooks aloud with Jaemin’s head nestled on one shoulder and Chenle’s on the other, a dumb selfie of him and Johnny and their bedhead sticking up in a thousand directions, Mark tickling Chenle’s tummy, Taeyong playing ‘airplane’ with Jaemin while Doyoung watches on fondly, their last Christmas card photo, and so on.

Johnny’s titled this section, ‘ _Our family!_ ’ with a heart drawn next to it.

“Hey, baby,” Johnny finally returns, at a terrible time. “Sorry, Jaemin insisted—oh no, why’re you crying?!”

“Because,” Jaehyun sobs, “I just love you so, so much.”

“Oh, peach,” Johnny hurries over to the bed, taking Jaehyun into his arms, soothing him as he lets out cries and sniffles against his chest. “Shh, it’s alright. I didn’t mean to make you cry on your birthday. At least, not this time.”

Jaehyun flicks his husband in the side for that as he backs out of his warm hold, wiping away his tears as he laughs a little. “It’s okay, these are happy tears. I love the photo album, John. Thank you.”

“I’m glad,” Johnny beams, reaching up to run a hand through Jaehyun’s hair. “There’s still a bunch of blank pages left in it, though. I didn’t know what to do with them.”

“We have all the time in the world to make memories to fill them up,” Jaehyun says, and presses his lips to Johnny’s wrist briefly. Then, he lifts his head in realization, and pouts, “Now I feel dumb. All I got you for your birthday was a waffle maker.”

Johnny throws his head back in laughter. “No, it was a great investment. Look, we can put it to use right now! C’mon, let’s go eat with our boys.”

While Jaehyun oohs at Chenle’s heart-shaped card and ahhs at Jaemin’s acrostic poem of the word ‘Appa,’ Johnny attempts to make him a waffle in the shape of a J, which ends up turning into more of a weird oval shape. He cuts up a peach and places the slices around the waffle to make up for it, though.

The rest of the day goes off without a hitch. Johnny takes them out to go ice skating, and despite falling several times, neither of their sons cry, miraculously. But they do complain about their bruises, a lot. They go for lunch at Jaehyun’s favorite restaurant, and then shop around for a new raincoat for Jaemin. They end up getting one with some matching monkey rain boots that are entirely too adorable, and somehow end up buying a stuffed dolphin for Chenle.

“I don’t know how it happened, he just put it in the bag!” Johnny insists when he asks, but Jaehyun has a sneaking suspicion that Chenle’s wide eyes managed to convince his dad to get it for him.

Mark calls them later in the evening, offering to come over and babysit so he and Johnny could go out for dinner together. Jaehyun turns him down; Johnny’s already preparing food in the kitchen and there’s a birthday cake waiting for him in the fridge. He does, however, ask Mark if he’s free to take the boys out tomorrow. He and Johnny could use a day alone together for…reasons, especially after they’d spent both of their birthdays with friends and family.

After they’ve had their fill of Johnny’s cooking and cake (when he blows out the candles, Jaehyun wishes for the continued happiness and health of their family, and maybe, just maybe…a third child, if possible, someday), they let Jaemin and Chenle stay up a little later than usual to pick a movie to watch together, as a family. Jaemin ends up dozing off halfway through the animated film, head propped against Johnny’s arm. Chenle lasts a bit longer, but not by much, and when Jaehyun looks down at the little boy in his lap, his eyes are shut and he’s drooling.

Johnny grabs the remote and switches the TV off, carefully lifting Jaemin off the couch to carry him up the stairs. Jaehyun takes Chenle in his arms and follows him.

Once they have the boys tucked in, they return to the sanctuary that is their master bedroom, and get ready for bed themselves. Jaehyun laughs when Johnny dramatically collapses onto their bed, then motions for him to come towards him.

They make out for several, necessary minutes, until Jaehyun can feel them teetering into a tension-filled territory that they shouldn’t approach. At least, not until Mark takes the kids off their hands the next day.

“Did you have a good day?” Johnny asks when they part for air, intertwining their fingers together and playing with Jaehyun’s wedding ring.

“It was the best birthday ever,” Jaehyun breaks into a grin. “Thank you.”

“No, thank _you_ ,” Johnny counters, kissing at the side of his face, “for being born today. My precious little peach, my lovely valentine, my little muse.”

“Are you done?”

“No. My wonderful, darling, Jaehyunnie,” Johnny finishes, looking quite proud of himself. “Alright, now I’m done.”

“Good. Mark’s coming over to take the kids tomorrow, by the way,” he mentions.

“Oh? Any particular reason why?” his husband teases.

“Shut up,” he groans. “You fucking know why.”

Johnny pinches at one of Jaehyun’s now cherry red earlobes. “So cute when you’re embarrassed.”

“I’ll tell Mark not to show up, Johnny Seo,” he threatens. “Don’t test me.”

Johnny retracts his hand instantly. “Okay, damn. My bad.”

Jaehyun hums in response, satisfied with the small victory. He can feel the exhaustion catching up with him though, and lets out a long yawn. Johnny copies him with a yawn of his own, nose scrunching up, and he smiles to himself at the sight.

Even after years of being together, the smallest of things about Johnny still got to him and his heart.

Jaehyun kisses Johnny one last time before settling into his embrace completely, shutting his eyes, ready to doze off.

“I love you so much, Jaehyun, happy birthday,” Johnny whispers, tracing his fingertips against Jaehyun’s arm.

“I love you, too, Johnny,” he murmurs. “Now go to sleep so we can wake up and have morning sex.”

Johnny laughs breathlessly at that, and Jaehyun swears he can feel the joy from it settle throughout their room.

“Will do. Good night, peach.”

“Good night, John.”

**Author's Note:**

> pls note johnny calling jaemin 'jae' bc JAEhyun and jaehyun calling him 'minnie' bc of the -ie ending like johnny's name I think it's cute okay they're in love okay
> 
> befriend me if you cried when johnny danced w jaehyun at the end of inkigayo:  
> twitter: @mediumsuh  
> tumblr: thatfangirlingfreak  
> curiouscat: infinitywarmth


End file.
